EvanL
02-19-2004, 11:48 PM
By OLIVER MOORE
Globe and Mail Update
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The federal government announced plans on Thursday to compensate thousands of veterans used as guinea pigs during Cold War-era chemical warfare tests.
Many of the 3,500 soldiers affected by these tests have since died, but those still alive have spent years, in some cases decades, pushing the government to compensate them subjecting them to banned weapons.
The tests, which were conducted from 1940 to 1970, used illegal stocks of mustard gas, liquefied chlorine gas and phosgene. They were conducted on volunteers solicited from military ranks.
Announcing the details of the compensation plan Thursday, neither Defence Minister David Pratt nor Veterans Affairs Minister John McCallum made any attempt to defend the tests.
“Clearly, the experiments performed on Canadian soldiers were appalling and unacceptable,” Mr. McCallum said in Ottawa. “That is why, today, the government is responding to a moral imperative. While we cannot change the past, we can repair the future.”
Mr. Pratt said that an office overseeing the compensation program would be operational within two weeks, tasked with doling out $50-milion to surviving veterans and the beneficiaries of those who had died.
Each eligible case will mean a payment of $24,000 to help deal with what Mr. Pratt called “difficulties” suffered as a result of the testing. The amount was calculated based on precedents such payments to Canadian soldiers taken prisoner in the 1941 fall of Hong Kong.
Opposition members applauded the government decision to close the file but criticized its having taken so long and asked why it seemed to have taken a class-action lawsuit to provoke action.
“The use of chemical weapons on our own forces was completely inexcusable, whether in time of war or peace,” Conservative Party deputy leader Elsie Wayne said. “Finally, after generations of waiting, these brave soldiers are being compensated for a terrible mistake.”
The Conservative Party's veterans affairs critic also praised Thursday's announcement but slammed the military and government treatment of the soldiers, questioning whether the men had truly been volunteers. In a statement, Lethbridge MP Rick Casson said that the test subjects had been treated callously and irresponsibly.
“Approximately 3,500 soldiers were sent to [Alberta's Canadian Forces Base] Suffield without informed consent. The federal government did not apprise the soldiers of the painful outcome. The volunteers suffered severe burns and blistering but military doctors refused to link their symptoms with the tests.”
For more than 15 years, Ottawa has been trying to come to find a solution to this controversial issue for more than 15 years, which Prime Minister Paul Martin called “a very, very sad part of Canadian history” earlier Thursday.
“Today, my thoughts and prayers go out to those courageous veterans,” Ms. Wayne said. “... My only regret is that it took the government so long to do the right thing.”
Mr. McCallum acknowledged that establishing a compensation program would not prevent test survivors from suing the government, saying that “no amount is really enough.”
Globe and Mail Update
E-mail this Article
Print this Article
Advertisement
The federal government announced plans on Thursday to compensate thousands of veterans used as guinea pigs during Cold War-era chemical warfare tests.
Many of the 3,500 soldiers affected by these tests have since died, but those still alive have spent years, in some cases decades, pushing the government to compensate them subjecting them to banned weapons.
The tests, which were conducted from 1940 to 1970, used illegal stocks of mustard gas, liquefied chlorine gas and phosgene. They were conducted on volunteers solicited from military ranks.
Announcing the details of the compensation plan Thursday, neither Defence Minister David Pratt nor Veterans Affairs Minister John McCallum made any attempt to defend the tests.
“Clearly, the experiments performed on Canadian soldiers were appalling and unacceptable,” Mr. McCallum said in Ottawa. “That is why, today, the government is responding to a moral imperative. While we cannot change the past, we can repair the future.”
Mr. Pratt said that an office overseeing the compensation program would be operational within two weeks, tasked with doling out $50-milion to surviving veterans and the beneficiaries of those who had died.
Each eligible case will mean a payment of $24,000 to help deal with what Mr. Pratt called “difficulties” suffered as a result of the testing. The amount was calculated based on precedents such payments to Canadian soldiers taken prisoner in the 1941 fall of Hong Kong.
Opposition members applauded the government decision to close the file but criticized its having taken so long and asked why it seemed to have taken a class-action lawsuit to provoke action.
“The use of chemical weapons on our own forces was completely inexcusable, whether in time of war or peace,” Conservative Party deputy leader Elsie Wayne said. “Finally, after generations of waiting, these brave soldiers are being compensated for a terrible mistake.”
The Conservative Party's veterans affairs critic also praised Thursday's announcement but slammed the military and government treatment of the soldiers, questioning whether the men had truly been volunteers. In a statement, Lethbridge MP Rick Casson said that the test subjects had been treated callously and irresponsibly.
“Approximately 3,500 soldiers were sent to [Alberta's Canadian Forces Base] Suffield without informed consent. The federal government did not apprise the soldiers of the painful outcome. The volunteers suffered severe burns and blistering but military doctors refused to link their symptoms with the tests.”
For more than 15 years, Ottawa has been trying to come to find a solution to this controversial issue for more than 15 years, which Prime Minister Paul Martin called “a very, very sad part of Canadian history” earlier Thursday.
“Today, my thoughts and prayers go out to those courageous veterans,” Ms. Wayne said. “... My only regret is that it took the government so long to do the right thing.”
Mr. McCallum acknowledged that establishing a compensation program would not prevent test survivors from suing the government, saying that “no amount is really enough.”